CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XV, Issue 3795, 28 August 1882, Page 3

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.

(To tho Editor.)

Six,—lt Is to bo regretted that when Mr A. Campbell bollered be discerned Indications of public interest being BU«taiaed in tho dlsousslon on capital Dunlshraent botwiv n him and myself, and determined to write another letter on the cvi joot, ha did not endeavour to oomoouo somothlng more worthy of the attention or the ' thoughtful persons and ot tho lofty pretensions of those whoooiidomn the Infliction of tho deal h pona'ty on marderors than tho verbose and rieolamatory but unarßUtnentatlvo effu.lnn whloh appears in the St ah of Wednesday. 110 contends and reiterates that oapltal punishment is unnecessary, and that murders would not increase In frequency were It abolished ; and yat when statistic* aro brought to showthat where it has boon abolished the nun b_r of muriors baa Inceiß«d, and that most alarmingly, ho coolly ignores the value of tho exporloaoe thereby offered for our guidance, and proceeds to waste spico by sketching a fantastic and original representation of Justice, as a monster eager for the blood of vioilm<>. The weakness or tho objections offered to my facts, demonstrate) tho ui.tcaable position held by tho abolitionists, and tho fatality of arguing with hysterio porsons who regard orlmlnals ot the deepuat dye with feelinga o( sympathy, and almost of affection. Mr C»mpbell sajs bo doos not know where " t« look for the nation which has not inflloted o»plt»l punishment,1' I have pointed out Switzerland as being a nation where It was not liillioted for four years, until a dearly-bought experience compelled tho people to attain resort to it, Mr Campbell misapprehended tho purport of my raferonoo to America. I did not spoak of that country to show tbat hanging, under Lynch law 'in tho early days " fctemmed tides of ferocity," though that undoubtedly was the oaeo; bat I instanced the United Htettog of tho present day as hong a country wharo—the ao&ih penalty bolng rarely inflloted — human Ufa U notoriously less secure than in nations whore the punishment for murder is certain death. Mr Campbell nayu ho hui "no thought to move Switzerland, the United States or tho world on the matte r.'.' It la precisely for that very reason ti.e t he is In auoh a foz and (hat his letters dlstlay Buoh inherent wuaknoi>B and puerility. It we are about 10 make any chtnga in a law la Now Zealand, or to Introduce a new law, do wo not gu abroad to the world, not only of the present day bat of past ages, to see what its experience ha* been In a given set ot olrcumstanooH and what effoots followed from certain oanaesi sur.ily Mr Campbell U not such a Nihilist as to wish to Ignore all authority and all experience, and to lntioduoa ohanges based on mere sentiment, whloh have worked di*a»troußly among the peoples. Mr Campbell aaya that an to murderers, "we could restrain them In out goals from further violence." Certainly yon oould; bnt you have to prove that the punishment of imprisonment wiU have auch torrord for those who oontemplate murder as to deter them as effootually a« the gallows does from executing their nefarlcus designs. Ii is not that a second murder may bs committed by a iharderer already In prison that yoa have to fear, bat that hia lenient treatment may lnduco others to commit mmder. There are many offences If or whloh poual servitude for lite may now bo tifjlcted, suoh as plraoy without violence, conveying slaves. treaton. felony, desertion, mutiny, counterfeiting coin, riot under the Riot Act, extorting by sooualng of orime, smuggling, aooessory after the foot in murder, manslaughter, attempt to murder; and a multitude of others; and can an»one reasonably think that if there were no distinction in the punishment for tuob orimes (eßpeolally the three last named) and the great crime of murder, criminals committing them would not more frequently perpetrate tho more heinous crime, especially a? would most likely be the cnao by murdering their victims outright their chances of esoape would bo inoroased tenfold. The faot urged by yonr corrosp indent that "no ono likes the gallows" is no roason for Its abolition, I presume that even prisons and policemen are not "liked," and yet they are necessities whloh we must endure. Mr Campbell does not probably /'like" to undergo a certain amount ot labour dally, ease and comfort would no doubt be peforablo; bur, alasl our avthotlo Instincts, our "oultlVfitsd taste i\nd humane feeling." cannot always be considered by the world's realities. The force of Mr Campbell's oi-jeoiiona to public executions I fully admit: but as they have long since beau numbered with the thmga that were, to recapitulate their evils is only to misspend energy, Mr Campbell says Mr Bright once quoted statistics to show that tho offence of ' ahoepßteoUng was less frequent slnoe it had oeased to be a capital crime, and he advlfai me to "'explore" the "Item," I will do bo with pleasure if he gives me the reference, But who is upholding the anolent severity of our penal code? I have already expressed my emphatlo condemnation of the cruelty of the old- criminal law. but now tempora ttmtavtur, ' and the faot, if true, has no bearing upon the question in dispute. To conclude, there can be no doubt tbat the penalty of death invests the crime for which ii is Inflicted with a peoullar horror whioh any other punishment is absolutely imnotent to produce, and that alone would bs a sufficient reason for its retention. I have not themoat infinitesimal partiole Of sympathy or pity for a murderer, and Bee UQ reason why the Inn us try of lawabiding men should be taxrd to maintain and i guard auoh a monster. Bis speedy despatch is imperative and praiseworthy. I thoroughly endorse a remark made some time ago by the London ''Times,1' tnat "tho demand for the abo'ltlon of this penalty will generally be fonnd to be In inverse ratio to the respect felt for human lite." —I am, &o > AtOIBIADUB. (To the Editor.) Bm,—" Drop It" wants " some soheme for the abolition of murder" or killing, for the term murder 1b but a legal distinction. There are many now working at Buoh a scheme, and though neither he nor I might be Ot much weight, we should remember the proverb, "Little strokes,"&o.,and not get worried and

Impatiently cry out "drop it." In our very earliest education killing U presented to us in a ! herolo light, and the great men of the past ! wbom we learn to deify were wholepalo Killer?. . Aa ohildren we swagger about with our toy I swords, guns and drume, and grow up, what pieasea us better than' military display ' with Its glittering arms, gorgeous array ot colours, and blood-:t!rlng intialo: and have we no', competitions in sword excprolße, In bayonet , sractloa, and in rillfi shooting: and do not gentie-heurtad women bastow with their own hands the badges ol honour on the successful competitort? Is tnere not a grand killing match In preparation in Bgypt juatnow? Thealaughter oomes off tomorrow ; and so long as the rjaesion for killing }9 so taught and feted and. glorified, ' oui we wonder tbat now and then one steps out from BQolety end does a killing on bis own ncoount, If there is a wonder in the case, it is that it oooors so seldom; and when we kill the murderer, we merely exercise the same blood-seeking tassion tho murderer exercjeoi. LegaUfOikiUUgim- , meainyobly PXOoedH.i'ne lllegalleed, and I cannot Bee what oan arrest both except toachtng in its entirety the commandment, "Thou Bhalt i not kill." V A.C. j Augrut 26. [Nothing very new is being olioltod in this correspondence; we tbereforo close it for the present. When oor correspondents are better posted with faots it might perhaps be re< opened. So far as we know, the Stato of Maine, V.f.A., Is the only country In tho world where tho lawota lite for a llfo is not enforoed- We have not by us anr statistics shewina the effects ot tbo system tbere; but no doubt they could bo piooorod.—Ep. is.a.]